


"Sorry Tsukki"

by FanDreams01



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hanahaki Disease, Happy Ending, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Unrequited Love, background ships if you want them to be there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:20:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23220847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanDreams01/pseuds/FanDreams01
Summary: Coughing was bad. That was the discovery Yamaguchi discovered when he was a kid and met Tsukishima.
Relationships: Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 9
Kudos: 177





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I found this while going through my desk, so have it I guess.

Coughing was bad. That was the discovery Yamaguchi discovered when he was a kid and met Tsukishima. It hadn’t been so bad at first, but now Yamaguchi was lucky if flower petals didn’t come up every time he coughed.

~~~

“Sorry Tsukki,” Yamaguchi said as he bumped into the tall blonde who’d just come to an abrupt stop outside of the club room. Peering around his friend, Yamaguchi saw that Hinata and Kageyama were fighting. Again. 

He opened his mouth to say something, when he felt an all too familiar tickle at the back of his throat.

“I’ll be back.” Yamaguchi murmured, though he doubted anyone heard him. Then he made a break for the nearest bathroom.

Bending over a toilet seat, Yamguchi allowed himself to start hacking up petal after petal, eyes squeezed shut in pain. His tongue tasted bitter when it was finally over and Yamaguchi pulled his water bottle out of his bag in an attempt to drown it out. It didn’t work.

Yamaguchi looked down at the toilet and froze. Because there on top of the dozens of dainty, white flower petals was a single, blood stained daisy.

This was the first time he’d ever coughed up a full flower.

Without thinking, Yamaguchi pulled out his phone and typed  _ “Daisy meanings” _ into the search bar. A list of flowers and meanings appeared and Yamaguchi scrolled until he found daisy. There were multiple meanings, but Yamaguchi figured the most likely meaning for this disease was “loyal love”.

That certainly was what Yamaguchi felt for Tsukishima. He’d had this disease for years and yet, had always been unable to stop loving Tsukishima.

“Yamaguchi, hurry up, practice is starting.” Tsukishima’s voice called and Yamaguchi squeaked, quickly flushing away the flowers.

“Sorry Tsukki,” he said as he went to wash his hands. The blonde grunted in acknowledgement.

~~~

He’d known Tsukishima for half a year when he got the disease. He was walking home from school when some students in the grade above him approached.

Looking back, Yamaguchi didn’t remember why they were being mean to him, probably because he seemed like an easy target, but he did remember Tsukishima coming over and defending him until they left.

That must have been when his crush turned into full on, real love for the other boy. Because the coughing started that night when he was telling his mom about it.

~~~

Things came to a head during a practice match against Nekoma.

Yamaguchi was sitting out and watching the others play, but mostly Tsukishima. The coughing came without the usual tickle, which should have been a warning sign.

Yamaguchi looked around but no one seemed to be paying him any mind. The game still continued and though Takeda was looking at him, Coach Ukai’s attention remained fixed on the match.

Getting up, Yamaguchi tried to leave the gym before flowers and petals made their way up his throat, but doubled over as the coughing became hacking.

Having already spotted something wrong, Takeda was immediately by Yamaguchi’s side. However the nervous teacher could only stand there, hands raised, as he didn’t know what to do.

The louder, more intense noises finally caught the attention of, not only Coach Ukai, but both the Karasuno and Nekoma teams.

“What’s wrong?” Coach Ukai asked.

Yamaguchi didn’t reply, his throat was full of silky petals that stuck to it and he found that breathing was hard. Eventually, a spatter of blood landing on the ground, and with it came a number of daisy petals.

But it wouldn’t stop and soon Yamaguchi was coughing up whole flowers and crying from the pain.

Strong arms wrapped around Yamaguchi and lowered him so that he was on his knees, something that would have happened sooner or later - most likely sooner - because of his buckling legs.

Looking up, Yamaguchi saw that it was Tsukishima who had lowered him to the ground. His eyes held barely hidden panic, but showed all their concern, behind Tsukishima’s glasses.

On instinct, Yamaguchi struggled to breath out the first thing that came to mind upon seeing his crush like that.

“S-sorry Ts-Tsukki.”

~~~

Yamaguchi woke with a groan. Opening his eyes, he blinked in shock.

Almost the entire volleyball team was asleep somewhere in the room. Hinata was small enough to curl up in a corner on the very edge of the bed. Noya was stretched, upside down across a chair, his head hanging off and Asahi was stretched on the floor bellow him. Ennoshita, Kinoshita and Narita were huddled together in a corner; Ennoshita’s legs were pulled up to his chest with the other two leaning on him. Daichi dozed against the side of the bed with Suga curled against his chest, Tanaka was sprawled across Daichi’s legs. Kageyama slept in the chair next to Yamaguchi, his face twitching every now and then.

Yamaguchi couldn’t see Coach Ukai or Takeda, but the two adults did have work outside of the team so he couldn’t fault them. However, upon not seeing Tsukishima Yamaguchi’s heart sank and he started coughing. Slapping a hand over his mouth, Yamaguchi tried to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake the others.

He silently cursed at the medical equipment when it’s beeping started to pick up.

…

_ Wait, medical equipment? _

Oh right, he’d had a hanahaki attack during a practice match against Nekoma. Did that mean they were all still in Tokyo?

The door opened and Yamaguchi looked up to see Tsukishima. The coughing, which had calmed down, came back full force and Yamaguchi gagged on daisies as they tried to break out of the prison that was his body.

Tsukishima’s eyes widened minutely and then he was calmly weaving his way towards Yamaguchi through the maze of their teammates. Upon reaching him, he rubbed Yamaguchi’s back soothingly until Yamaguchi calmed down.

“W-where’s Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei?” Yamaguchi asked, because yes they had other jobs, but they hadn’t just left a bunch of highschoolers in Tokyo with no way home, had they?

“They’re talking to the doctors and Coach Nekomata.” Tsukishima replied, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Yamaguchi looked at him and debated whether or not to tell him.  _ Well, I’m going to die anyway _ , he decided.

“I didn’t,” Yamaguchi hated how hoarse his voice was, “I didn’t tell you because they’re for you.”

Yamaguchi couldn’t bring himself to look at Tsukishima. There went years of friendship, years of building trust and years of getting Tsukishima to open up, right down the drain like so many of the petals Yamaguchi had flushed over those same years.

“Tadashi,” Tsukishima said.

Yamaguchi looked up in shock. First names had always been an off limits thing when it came to Tsukishima.

“Tsu… Kei?” Yamaguchi hesitantly questioned.

“You could have told me, Tadashi. I… I like you too.”

There was a long pause.

The door opened and the doctors came in with Coach Ukai and Takeda.

~~~

“The roots have started to die. He’ll live, though I don’t recommend too much physical activity right away. Volleyball might have to take a backburner to his recovery.”

“But-”

“Shut up, Tadashi.”

“Sorry Kei.”


	2. Chapter 2

Tsukishima always thought that it was an understood thing. He wasn’t good with words or with other people in general, really, but he’d thought that it had been clear enough. What with how he only ever really gave Yamaguchi the time of day and followed him around. 

Most people assume that it’s Yamaguchi who follows Tsukishima, but really, they were both following each other. When they were kids, Tsukishima had done it because as long as he was with Yamaguchi he wasn’t the one who had to deal with talking to annoying people, but eventually it became for another reason.

The point is, he thought it was clear that he loved Yamaguchi, just like it was blatantly obvious to him that Yamaguchi loved him. Sure the two ween’t dating, but Tsukishima wouldn’t know how to broach the topic in a normal fashion and was kind of just waiting for Yamaguchi to make the first move.

He’d always been curious as to why the other boy hadn’t done so yet, choosing instead to finish middle school without initiating anything, but Tsukishima figured maybe he wanted to wait until there were new people around, though he couldn’t figure out why. 

But even after middle school finished Yamaguchi hadn’t done anything, and for the first time since falling for Yamaguchi, Tsukishima’s complete faith in the fact that Yamaguchi loved him wavered. Maybe he’d been imagining it all after all, maybe Yamaguchi loving him had all been in his head. But then Yamaguchi smiled that stupid smile of his that did weird things to Tsukishima’s chest and really did belong among the stars, and Tsukishima cursed himself for ever doubting Yamaguchi.

So maybe they weren’t dating yet, maybe Yamaguchi wasn’t quite ready for a relationship, or was too afraid of the possible backlash from their peers. Whatever the reason, Tsukishima was willing to wait for him to sort out his emotions and talk to him.

Then the practice match happened.

~~~

Tsukishima had just finished blocking one of Kuroo’s spikes when the sound of violent coughing reached his ears. Turning toward the bench slightly, his eyes widened when he saw Yamaguchi, hunched over in pain, sounding like he was about to cough up his lungs.

Takeda was standing uselessly above Yamaguchi, and Tsukishima growled, wondering irrationally what exactly it was the teacher did for them other than give pep talks.

Coach Ukai appeared by the two just moments before something emerged from Yamaguchi’s mouth.

Daisies and blood.

Tsukishima froze for a minute, mind going into overdrive, before he moved instinctively, towards Yamaguchi enveloping him in his arms and lowering the still gagging boy to the ground.

He tried to push all of his thoughts away for now, he could think later, right now he had to deal with Yamaguchi. The other boy had stopped coughing, finally, and Tsukishima breathed an internal sigh of relief.

Yamaguchi’s eyes were filled with pain, and Tsukishima went to tell him that everything would fine, but stopped when he heard a barely their sound come out of Yamaguchi’s mouth.

“S-sorry Ts-Tsukki,”

Yamaguchi’s eyes slid closed and Tsukishima felt his heart clench painful in his chest, because those could not be the last words his friend ever said to him goddamnit!

Tsukishima felt a hand on his shoulder and tried to shake it off, but the hand only tightened and started moving him away from Yamaguchi. Looking back, Tsukishima glared directly at Kuroo, who looked apologetic but didn’t let go.

Tsukishima looked back at Yamaguchi and realized belatedly that the reason he’d been pulled away was because the medics were here now, loading Yamaguchi onto a stretcher to take to the hospital. He felt an ounce of tension leak out of himself, realizing that Yamaguchi wasn’t dead yet, and hoping the yet would disappear from that statement soon.

Takeda and Ukai left with the medics, leaving Coach Nekomata in charge. The man took one look at Karasuno and knew immediately that there wasn’t going to be anymore volleyball playing that day, not that he could fault them as he knew his team would be much the same in this situation.

With a sigh, Coach Nekomata told them all to gather their things and pack up, saying he’d take them to the hospital.

The rest of the team rushed to gather their things, while Tsukishima did it all slowly, reflexively, feeling numb all of a sudden.

~~~

It wasn’t until the rest of the team was asleep, Yachi and Kiyoko having stayed behind at school instead of going with them to Nekoma this time around, that the numbness leaked out of Tsukishima and he felt restless. Getting up, he decided to grab something from the vending machine, throat unbearably dry suddenly.

Once Tsukishima had his drink, he stood in front of the machine for a second, staring at the milk inside it. Heaving a sigh, Tsukishima moved so he was leaning against the wall next to the machine and slid down, letting his thoughts catch up to him.

Yamaguchi had Hanahaki. Yamaguchi liked someone, who didn’t like him back. Tsukishima rephrased it over and over in his head, hoping that somehow the statement would change. Because he felt like one of the puzzle pieces in his life had just been removed and placed somewhere it didn’t fit, or maybe it did fit and he just wasn’t used to the piece being where it belonged.

Because if Yamaguchi had unrequited love, it meant that he didn’t love Tsukishima. That Tsukishima really had misunderstood everything between them. He felt the sudden urge to cough.

Tsukishima’s hand clenched around the drink before he took a deep breath and downed it, trying to get rid of the feeling before it became what he knew it would. 

Once he’d finished the drink, Tsukishima stood up and threw out the empty container before making his way back to Yamaguchi’s hospital room. Yamaguchi was awake when he got there.

The two stared at each other for a moment before Yamaguchi broke out into coughs again. Tsukishima felt alarm race through his body, not wanting to see anything like what he had in the gym again. He moved as fast as he could toward Yamaguchi and did his best to sooth out the pain.

“W-where’s Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei?” Yamaguchi asked after the coughing had settled.

Tsukishima figured it was a fair question as the two adults weren’t currently in the room. Last he’d checked, they’d been discussing options, but he’d been gone for nearly twenty minutes so he couldn’t imagine what they were doing now.

“They’re talking to the doctors and Coach Nekomata.” Tsukishima replied, before hesitating. He knew what he wanted to say, and he knew he probably wouldn’t like the answer, so did he really want to ask? 

He had to, he realized, because Yamaguchi may not love him but he was still his best friend and Tsukishima had to support him through this. And he needed to know why he hadn’t been allowed to do that up until now.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Tsukishima questioned, throat tightening.

Yamaguchi’s voice was hoarse as he answered, “I didn’t… I didn’t tell you because they’re for you.”

Tsukishima felt his world flip upside down, or maybe it had been upside down since the gym and was now right side up. Either way, he suddenly felt disoriented.  _ Wait, what?  _ But… those feelings weren’t unrequited. But maybe Yamaguchi thought they were? Whatever the cause was, something had gotten mixed up while the two of them had been communicating the way they did, and Tsukishima realized he had to fix that, right now.

Yamaguchi wasn’t looking at him, instead staring down at the bed sheets.

“Tadashi,” Tsukishima said sternly.

Yamaguchi looked up, eyes wide. Tsukishima wasn’t really a big fan of using first names for people other than family and significant others, so he couldn’t fault the other boy’s shock when he thought Tsukishima didn’t return his affections.

“Tsu… Kei?”

“You could have told me, Tadashi. I… I like you too.” Tsukishima inwardly winced at his own hesitation. This was weird for him and he felt uncomfortable. He’d always figured Yamaguchi would make the first move, so this was nerve wracking, even knowing that Yamaguchi felt the same.

Yamaguchi didn’t get a chance to reply to Tsukishima before the doctors showed up.

~~~

_ Heard Everything worked out, good for you bro. Make sure to tell Bo, we can both graduate happy knowing you and Yamaguchi finally got your bs together. _

“Who is it Kei?”

“Tch, it’s nothing Tadashi. But remind me to rat out Kuroo’s feelings for Kenma and Bokuto’s for Akaashi next time we see them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter was originally meant to be a one shot, but then I got this idea and figured why the hell not. Even though I love Hanahaki fics, it bothers me sometimes when the love is actually requited but only one person has the disease and its never explain why the other person didn't and just decided not to confess, so i figured I'd get out of that with this story, by making this chapter. Also, I headcannon that the reason Tsukki doesn't have a lot of friends is not only because he's the King of Salt, but also because kinda similarly to Kageyama he just doesn't really understand how to interact with people in a way that's deemed "nice" as he also just doesn't like people, so it also makes sense to me why he'd be waiting for Yamaguchi to make the first move because he just doesn't know what the heck to do. The end dialogue at this chapter was just for fun, doesn't really have any plot significance like last chapter's did. Anyway, hope you enjoyed~


End file.
